28 TIMBERS AND THEIR USES 



time waxeth so hard that the toughness and 

 hardness of it may rather be compared to horn 

 than unto wood, and therefore it was called 

 hornbeam or hard beam." The tree occurs in 

 Europe and Western Asia. It is a fine, dense 

 open-grained timber, greyish white in colour, 

 remarkable for its strength and toughness. An 

 excellent fuel timber. 



KowHAi, Sophora tetraptera, occurs in New 

 Zealand. A fine-grained, tough hard wood with 

 a brownish heartwood and a paler sapwood. 



Lignum Vitae, Ixora ferrea (Fig. 62), also 

 known as Hackia, Iron tree, Ironwood, West 

 Indian Ironwood, Martinique Ironwood, occurs in 

 British Gruiana and West Indies. A coarse, open- 

 grained lustrous timber. Almost unbreakable. 

 Difficult to plane for " it contains much grit 

 which is bad for the cutting edge of tools." In 

 colour it shows zones of dark and light brown. 



Locust (Fig. 23) (Furniture). 



Pear, Red, Scolopia Mundtii, also known as 

 Thorn, Thorn Pear, Wolf Pear, Klipdoorn, 

 occurs in South Africa. A fine, open-grained 

 timber. Very durable and tough. Reddish 

 brown in colour. 



Sal (Sleepers). 



Saliewood (Engraving). 



Service (Engraving). 



Wandoo (Sleepers). 



